News

News and noteworthy information for November: CPT® Editorial Summary of Panel Actions 2016 Final Physician Fee Schedule 2016 Hospital Outpatient and Ambulatory Surgical Center Final Rule AMA Urges DOJ to Block Proposed Insurance Mergers Antitrust In Medicine National Association of Insurance Commissioners Urges Broader Health Networks New Chairmen for House Ways and Means Committee and Health Subcommittee Electronic Health Record Program – Meaningful Use MACRA Update Reauthorization of the Medical Device User Fee Amendments – FDA Hosts Stakeholder Meetings The Case for Quality: Working with Stakeholders to Improve the Safety of Medical Devices for Patients   CPT Editorial Summary of Panel Actions The CPT® Editorial Panel met in early October in Philadelphia to consider proposals for new and revised CPT® […]

ISASS attended the AMA House of Delegates (HOD) Interim Meeting on November 14-18 in Atlanta. The business of the Interim HOD meeting is focused on advocacy and legislative issues. For purposes of the Interim Meeting, advocacy is defined as “Active use of communication and influence with public and private sector entities responsible for making decisions that directly affect physician practice, payment for physician services, funding and regulation of education and research, and access to and delivery of medical care.”  

On October 2, National Government Services, Inc. (NGS), the Medicare Administrative Contractor covering Illinois, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Connecticut, New York, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont, released a positive draft Local Coverage Determination (LCD) for minimally invasive sacroiliac joint fusion (MIS SIJ fusion) and on October 16, CGS Administrators, LLC (CGS), the Medicare Administrative Contractor covering Kentucky and Ohio, released an identical positive draft LCD. Both draft LCDs reference ISASS prevalence data and coverage criteria for coverage of MIS SIJ fusion and propose coverage of the procedure when eight specific coverage criteria have been met. NGS is accepting public comments on the draft LCD until December 12, 2015. CGS is accepting public comments on the draft LCD until December […]

ISASS signed on to an AMA letter signed by more than 100 state and national medical specialty societies to Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Acting Administrator Slavitt laying out principles CMS should follow in designing regulations to implement the Medicare Access and Chip Reauthorization Act (MACRA). The letter is in response to a CMS Request for Information (RFI) regarding the implementation of Alternative Payment Models (APMS) and Merit-Based Incentive Programs (MIPS) under MACRA. On September 28, CMS released an RFI seeking public comments on Section 101 of MACRA, which:  Repeals the Medicare Sustainable Growth Rate methodology for updates to the physician fee schedule (PFS) and implements scheduled PFS updates; Adds the new Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) for eligible professionals, sunsets payment […]